Johns Hopkins Researchers Discuss Burden of Ultra-Expensive Drugs on Medicare as Spending Increases 1,170%

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health published an article on a select category of medications: ultra-expensive drugs. The number of these drugs covered by Medicare Part D increased from 23 to 122 between 2012 to 2018, leading to a shocking 1,170% spending surge on these so-called ultra-expensive drugs.

The authors remark, “Although increased spending for one or two ultra-expensive drugs can be absorbed by the health care system, the growing number of ultra-expensive drugs and patients receiving them is affecting Medicare Part D as well as other insurers and, most important, the patients faced with high cost sharing for these drugs.” Read more here.

(Source: Kang et al., Health Affairs, 6/2021)